Gary Payton | Guard

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Gary Payton is a candidate to be an assistant for the Lakers or Bucks.

He's spent some time in the offseason coaching up players such as Damian Lillard, so a move to the bench as a coach isn't a surprise. Payton may be more involved with player development more than drawing up plays. Sat, Jul 26, 2014 09:29:00 PM

Gary Payton has been elected to The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to multiple media reports.

Payton, a first timer on the ballot, was one of 12 finalists announced in February. The official announcement won't be until Monday, but it wouldn't be all that surprising if he made it through on the first try. The Glove was one of the greatest point guards ever, with nine All-Star appearances, an NBA title and a reputation as one of the toughest defenders ever. Thu, Apr 4, 2013 06:11:00 PM

Gary Payton was announced Friday as one of 12 finalists nominated for potential induction into The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This was Payton's first year on the ballot, which also includes Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Bernard King, Spencer Haywood and former WNBA star Dawn Staley as players. Former coaches Tom Heinsohn, Guy Lewis, Rick Pitino, Jerry Tarkanian and Sylvia Hatchell were also named as finalists. Roger Brown, Edwin B. Henderson, Oscar Schmidt, Richard Guerin and Russ Granik were chosen as the five "Direct Elect" members of the Class of 2013. The announcement on who else will be elected this year will made April 8 at a news conference in Atlanta. Fri, Feb 15, 2013 12:58:00 PM

The Mariners will host a special night honoring the SuperSonics at Safeco field on Friday.

George Karl will throw out the first pitch, while Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp will also be in attendance. The Mariners are in the midst of an historic 17-game losing streak, while basketball fans in Seattle are still hurting from the loss of their team. Maybe the sun will shine and they can open the roof at the ball park on Friday night. Wed, Jul 27, 2011 10:14:00 AM

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Gary Payton has been elected to The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to multiple media reports.

Payton, a first timer on the ballot, was one of 12 finalists announced in February. The official announcement won't be until Monday, but it wouldn't be all that surprising if he made it through on the first try. The Glove was one of the greatest point guards ever, with nine All-Star appearances, an NBA title and a reputation as one of the toughest defenders ever.

Gary Payton was announced Friday as one of 12 finalists nominated for potential induction into The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

This was Payton's first year on the ballot, which also includes Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, Bernard King, Spencer Haywood and former WNBA star Dawn Staley as players. Former coaches Tom Heinsohn, Guy Lewis, Rick Pitino, Jerry Tarkanian and Sylvia Hatchell were also named as finalists. Roger Brown, Edwin B. Henderson, Oscar Schmidt, Richard Guerin and Russ Granik were chosen as the five "Direct Elect" members of the Class of 2013. The announcement on who else will be elected this year will made April 8 at a news conference in Atlanta.

The Mariners will host a special night honoring the SuperSonics at Safeco field on Friday.

George Karl will throw out the first pitch, while Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp will also be in attendance. The Mariners are in the midst of an historic 17-game losing streak, while basketball fans in Seattle are still hurting from the loss of their team. Maybe the sun will shine and they can open the roof at the ball park on Friday night.

Gary Payton has recently expressed some interest in making a comeback with Golden State and the Warriors were receptive to the idea.

"You know what he would bring," vice president of basketball operations Chris Mullin said. "So ... possibly. We're open-minded. There are some ifs on both sides." Coach Don Nelson is interested in cutting PG Baron Davis' minutes, so this move could make sense. "(Oakland) is my home," Payton said, "so I'm looking at it. We've talked back and forth a little bit."

Gary Payton called his agent and said he wanted to play for the Celtics after watching Tony Allen fall for Chauncey Billups' pump fake at the buzzer Wednesday, costing Boston a potential win.

"He called me and said, 'Hey, I'm reminding you that the Celtics are a team I feel like I can help,' " said agent Aaron Goodwin. The Celtics have two open roster spots and aren't exactly deep at point guard, with Eddie House, Allen and Gabe Pruitt backing up Rajon Rondo. We doubt the arrival of Payton would limit Rondo too much, but he would provide a calming influence off the bench, while not falling for Billups' pump fakes with the game on the line. Stay tuned.

Gary Payton is planning on making a decision on whether he'll return for another season within the next week.

Payton remains unsigned at this point. There's some speculation that Payton could sign with his hometown Warriors for an 18th season. If he doesn't return, he could explore either returning to the Sonics in some sort of management role or doing TV work.

According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Gary Payton is expected to retire this summer.

Although it remains a possibility that another team will look to add him late in the summer, Payton is definitely done in Miami. If this is truly the end of the line for the Glove, he finishes his career ranked 21st all-time in scoring with an average of over 16 PPG in 1,335 games. He is 16th all-time in field goals made and 29th with 3,570 3-pointers made. Payton has 8,966 assists, which puts him sixth all-time and his 2,445 career steals ranks behind only John Stockton and Michael Jordan.

Despite a torn left calf muscle that is supposed to keep him out up to three weeks, Gary Payton participated in practice Sunday and could be available for the first round of the playoffs.

"Gary, he changes from day to day," coach Pat Riley said. "One day he takes kryptonite and he's ready and the next day he's down for the count again. He does have a muscle tear. He's never been hurt, he's never missed a lot of games, so it's real frustrating for him to sit out." Dwyane Wade will get more minutes at the point behind JWill with the Glove sidelined.

Gary Payton (torn left calf muscle) is hoping to return for the Heat's playoff opener the weekend of April 21-22.

Considering he injured himself on April 9 and was expected to need two-to-three weeks of recovery time, this sounds a bit overly optimistic, especially considering how injury-prone Payton has been this season. We doubt he takes the court again unless Miami advances to the second round. Speaking of court, Payton is still facing a damage claim in the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice stemming from a strip joint episode in 2003. Payton was cleared of the assault charges a couple of months ago, but apparently there are potential damages he's liable for.

Depth Charts

The Heat announced that Dion Waiters underwent successful surgery on Monday to repair instability in his left ankle and will miss the remainder of the season.

A preexisting navicular bone fracture was also repaired during the surgery. Per Miami reporter Ira Winderman, "the expected recovery timetable from such an ankle procedure is six to ninth months. The long end of such an estimate would take it into next season's training camp." We should have plenty of updates on Waiter over the summer as he rehabs in preparation for the 2018-19 season.

Coach Erik Spoelstra wouldn't commit to McGruder playing on Friday against the Pelicans. McGruder had surgery on his leg for a stress reaction back in October and he's yet to make his season debut. He had a chance to be the opening-night starter, so McGruder could find himself back in the rotation. He likely won't have fantasy value, though.

Kelly Olynyk (shoulder) is listed as doubtful for Friday against the Pelicans.

"He did some non-contact work [Wednesday], a ton of conditioning, but not the contact part of practice," said coach Erik Spoelstra. That means the All-Star break likely wasn't enough for Olynyk's shoulder to get right after the injury on Feb. 5. Olynyk played a whopping 40 minutes in the game prior to injury, and he had been taking minutes away from Hassan Whiteside. Olynyk being out would open up a few extra minutes for Whiteside, James Johnson and Bam Adebayo.